SillWeb>Genealogy>Sill Book

"My family is American, and has been for generations."
                                                    Ulysses S. Grant

"Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts!"
                                                                Unknown

"Mommy's all right, daddy's all right, they just seem a little weird."
                              From the song Surrender by Cheap Trick

"Every family tree has it's sap!"
Ma Sweeney, from the animated show Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers

One problem with genealogy is figuring out just exactly who everyone is in relation to yourself. Aunts, uncles, and grandparents are easy, but things get tricky when it comes to cousins. Part of the problem is there seems to be more than one way to go about identifying cousins. The following explanation, which I found on the internet at Genealogy.com, seems to explain things as good as any.

The term first cousin means you have a common grandparent, second cousin means you have a common great grandparent, etc. The problem arises with the term "removed". Removed is used when two people are from different generations. Once removed means a one generation difference, twice removed means a two generation difference, and so on. The following Relationship Chart shows an easy way to figure things out.

The best way to explain would be to use an example. Let's use me and my "cousin" Chloe Kristina Sill. First, I follow our family trees back until I find our first common ancestor. That would show we are both descendants of Arthur Sill. Next, I determine how exactly we are both related to Arthur. Chloe is Arthur's great, great grandchild. Find that term on the top row of the chart. I am Arthur's grandchild. Find that term in the left-hand column of the chart. The box where that row and column intersect is my relationship with Chloe. She is my first cousin, twice removed.

Obviously this chart is not complete. It could continue on forever if needed. However this shows enough to tell how one is put together and is also probably large enough to determine most of the living relatives that you know of.

Although I have not yet found anything like this in our family tree, the following is an example of where the standard Relationship Chart would probably be of very little use!

Many many years ago when I was twenty three,

I got married to a widow who was pretty as could be.

This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red.

My father fell in love with her, and soon the two were wed.

This made my dad my son-in-law and changed my very life.

My daughter was my mother, for she was my father's wife.

To complicate the matters worse, although it brought me joy,

I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy.

My little baby then became a brother-in-law to dad.

And so became my uncle, though it made me very sad.

For if he was my uncle, then that also made him brother

To the widow's grown-up daughter who, of course, was my step-mother.

Father's wife then had a son, who kept them on the run.

And he became my grandson, for he was my daughter's son.

My wife is now my mother's mother and it makes me blue.

Because, although she is my wife, she is my grandma too.

If my wife is my grandmother, then I am her grandchild.

And every time I think of it, it simply drives me wild.

For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw.

As the husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa!

Written by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe, 1947

This is an example of what the family tree report, Descendants of John Sill, looks like:

12. Zechariah³ Sill(Joseph², John¹) was born January 01, 1681/82 in Lyme, Connecticut. He married Elizabeth Mather, daughter of Richard Mather and Catherine Wise. She was born November 20, 1682.

Children of Zechariah Sill and Elizabeth Mather are:

+  52 i. Andrew⁴ Sill.

+  53 ii. Zechariah Sill, born 1717; died 1783.

    54 iii. David Sill.

    55 iv. Sarah Sill, died March 28, 1774 in Middletown, Connecticut. She married Robert Johnson June 17, 1736.

    56 v. Elizabeth Sill. She married Isaiah Rogers 1767.

    57 vi. Joanna Sill.

The Family Tree report is considered to be Descendant Ordered because it starts with John Sill and lists all of his known descendants. Every descendant of John Sill is given a number (12.). The names of the descendant and their spouse are in bold face type. The descendant is also given a number (3) that shows which generation of the family they are, in relation to the original ancestor John. It also shows the names of their ancestors in a direct line to John (Joseph², John¹). It then lists all the information it has about the descendant and spouse regarding birth, marriage, death. It also lists the parents of the spouse, if known.

The children are listed below the parents. If a child has descendants, there is a (+) in front of their number, which means their family will be discussed later, in chronological order. If there is no (+) in front, that individual has no children and all of the known information about that individual is printed after their name. All of the children of a particular ancestor are also given Roman numerals (i). This is just used to show how many children a particular couple had.

You will notice as you read through the family tree that many of the dates have two years listed. For instance, Zechariah Sill was born January 01, 1681/82. This is because prior to 1752, the Julian calendar was used. According to that calendar the year began on Lady Day, which was March 25. Thus to Zechariah, his birthday was in 1681. But since the start of the year was changed, we would consider him to have been born in 1682.

That's it. What follows is the family tree of John Sill, our original American ancestor. The family tree can be viewed at our other website, The Sill Weibel Family Homepage. Click here to view it.

"People will never look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors."
                                                                                                           Edmund Burke

"Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past."
                                                                                    Deuteronomy 32:7

How To Read Ahnentafel Reports

In my original book, I included ancestor trees to show the ancestors of all the "Sill mothers." That way I could include information on all the other branches of the tree as well as the Sill family. In the online version of the book our ancestors are no longer presented in a tree format. I now have them in an Ahnentafel format. For those of you unfamiliar with Ahnentafels, here is an example and an explanation of how to read one.

8. Nelson Alexander Sill, born March 05, 1879 in Avon, Wisconsin; died February 24, 1957 in Rockford, Illinois. He was the son of 16. Nelson Sill and 17. Charlotte Emily Harper. He married 9. Edna Alfreda Freedlund September 20, 1900 in Janesville, Wisconsin.

9. Edna Alfreda Freedlund, born April 12, 1883 in Rockford, Illinois; died November 25, 1963 in Belvidere, Illinois. She was the daughter of 18. John Freedlund and 19. Emma Wilhelmina Anderson Lilja.

Children of Nelson Sill and Edna Freedlund are:

Ahnentafel reports are considered Ancestor Ordered reports. That means they start with a particular person and the report lists all of their known ancestors. In the Ahnentafel reports found here, either Cathy or I are the starting person and are considered to be number 1. Our father's number is twice ours, or number 2 and our mother's number is our father's number plus one, or 3. People are all grouped by generation, with me and Cathy being Generation One. The people are also always grouped with their spouse if that information is known. Below them will be information about their children. Each child is given a Roman numeral. This is used to show how many children a particular couple had. One of the listed children will also be an ancestor of the starting person, and their "normal" number is also shown.

In the example listed above I have chosen to start with 8. Nelson Alexander Sill. His father is his number times two, 16. Nelson Sill. His mother is his father's number plus one, 17. Charlotte Emily Harper. Directly below Nelson is information about his wife, 9. Edna Alfreda Freedlund. Nelson and Edna had three children, who are all listed below them as Roman numerals i, ii, and iii. Their child that is also my ancestor is shown with his "normal" number, 4 i. Arthur Vernon Sill.

In order to make the website more similar to the book, I have included links to each family that married the Sills. Click on a surname to go to where each family's information begins. Or, if you just want to browse the Ahnentafels, go there now.

Weibel    Drew    Johnson    Freedlund    Harper   
McNitt    Barnes    Bennett    Lord    Clark

NOTE: There may be a mistake in this information. I am a descendant of William Lord. I have seen William's wife recorded as Dorothy, and I have also seen his wife's name recorded as Hattie Nickerson. I have included information about Hattie Nickerson and her ancestors, which may be proven to be incorrect in the future.

        Back To Index                                               Go To Final Thoughts